Early History
In 1917, in Switzerland, three
brothers—Fritz, Ernst and Werner Schlup—opened a clockwork factory
called Schlup & Co. From its humble beginnings, it is this same
company that we today know as Rado. In 1957, exactly 40 years since
its inception, the company changed its name to Rado Uhren AG and
presented its first watch collection.

Initial Breakthroughs
Dedicated
to developing a timepiece that was resistant to the kind of damage
caused by commonplace scratches, Rado pioneered the first breakthrough
in manufacturing a scratch-resistant watch in 1962. In the Rado DiaStar,
they used hardmetal, which was only previously used in tooling.
Hardmetal is made out of tungsten carbide powder, which is one of the
strongest materials known to man, and is resistant to gold, steel and
even platinum. But for it to reach its true potential strength, the
powder is first injected, at a high pressure, into blanks and then put
into a high temperature vacuum furnace. The vacuum prevents oxidisation
of the metal and the sintering process produces the ultimate hard, final
form of the blank.

Another breakthrough with the same watch was the
introduction of sapphire crystals, which are now a longstanding feature
in Rado’s collections. These crystals, with their hardness and
transparency, made for an extremely strong shield against scratching.
Using a process called Verneuil, they manufacture synthetic gemstones
that result in the same structure of the natural stone itself. Some
collections like the Rado Ceramica have edge-to-edge crystals that lend a seamless look to the timepieces by joining together the case and bracelet.

In
addition, Rado also developed a technique to coat these crystals in
metal, by vapourising the metal and letting the metal vapour settle on
the crystals so as to coat it. Since there are no white metals in
existence, this is achieved by adding a ceramic layer to the metal. This
arduous procedure lends a dynamic look to the white aspects of the
metal.

All About Ceramics
Looking to break
convention, Rado presented the usage of high-tech ceramic in watches by
introducing it as a component in the Rado Integral in 1986, following
which the iconic Rado Ceramica was born in 1989.
An iconic design and
winner of many design awards, the Ceramica was a unique concept. It was
a fully ceramic watch, which wasn’t heard of before this time. The
methodology behind making these masterpieces is intricate and
time-consuming. The basic material used in the creation of high-tech
ceramic is called ultra-fine zirconium oxide, whose grain size is about
1/5th the diameter of human hair. To this, a binding agent is added
along with colour pigment, which causes it to granulate. High-pressure
ceramic injection moulding is applied to the granules to give it a more
precise form, which reduces in size by 30 per cent after sintering at a
temperature of 1,4500 C. This shrinking causes the grains of powder to
fuse together, creating a solid piece, which is then manipulated with
specially designed diamond tools that accentuate the detailing and
dimensions. Finally, the piece is polished to obtain a shiny texture on
the surface.
Initially, high-tech ceramic was only available in the
colour black, but Rado pushed through and launched coloured ceramic
pieces in the Rado Sintra collection in 1993. It became the first watch
to be made from platinum coloured high-tech ceramic. More than a decade
later, the brand took one step further, and came up with the first gold
high-tech ceramic watch, called the Rado Sintra Gold Paillette. The
brand’s desire for perfection drives each piece to be assembled by hand,
each ceramic link to be checked and only the ones that pass the quality
check make it to the timepiece.

Introducing Ceramos
Following
the development of the high-tech ceramic watches, which changed the
face of watchmaking, after much research, Rado introduced Ceramos,
combining high-tech ceramic with metal. Drawing on the properties of
both ceramic and metal, Ceramos was light, yet extremely tough. Having
evolved from the platinum-coloured high-tech ceramic that Rado presented
in 1993, today, Ceramos bears a platinum steel look. Its qualities
allow it to adjust to the skin’s temperature, rendering it suitable for
watch cases and bracelets. The smooth finish of the platinum and the
angular lines are achieved by applying a polishing process on diamond
wheels. The result is a sturdier, stronger watch, much tougher than
regular high-tech ceramic. This potential is strikingly demonstrated in
the new Rado D-Star line.

Another big moment for Rado was the launch
of the Rado True Thinline, the world’s thinnest high-tech ceramic watch.
With less than 5 mm thickness, the case holds all the components,
including the quartz movement, which is less than 1 mm thick. Till
Rado introduced high-tech ceramic into watchmaking, it was exclusively
used in space shuttle, F1 racing cars and medical equipment manufacture.
As the recipient of several design awards, Rado is more than just about
watchmaking. With every timepiece breaking new ground in watchmaking
and design, Rado sets new standards in style and reinforces its place as
one of the greats.